Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Last Minute Treats for a Merry Christmas


Hello, Dear Friends, I hope that you are all ready 
for Christmas! 


The big day has crept up on us, and as I scramble
to get all the many things checked off my list, 
I thought I would share with you some easy
 and delicious, last minute Christmas treats. 


Candy bark is very easy to make 
and is a nice alternative to cookies. 

Simply line a baking sheet with aluminum foil
and melt your favorite chocolate candy chips
in a shallow bowl in the microwave. 

A one pound bag of chocolate chips will 
melt in approximately 2 minutes, stirring 
at 30 second intervals. 


Spread the melted chocolate in the pan with a 
rubber spatula. Here I have melted semi-sweet 
chocolate chips and spread them first, adding 
melted white chocolate in dollops here and there and
then swirling together. 

For this flavor, I added 1 tsp. mint extract to each batch
 of the melted chocolate, then topped it with 
crushed candy canes. 


This batch was made with white chocolate
and topped with coconut and candy sprinkles. 


I made a third batch with bittersweet chocolate 
and topped it with chopped walnuts and dried cranberries. 

Dried cherries and almonds would be nice, too. 

Be sure to gently press the toppings into the still melted 
chocolate with the rubber spatula. 


Chill the chocolate bark until firm, about 2 hours, 
then peel off the aluminum foil. 



The fun part is breaking it into pieces, 
which looks like tree bark! 


Can you say Yummy, Yum-Yum?


For gift-giving, simply slip it into pretty bags
with a little ornament for decoration. 


Or a pretty tin. 


Here's another quick and easy holiday treat - 
candy covered marshmallows
for hot chocolate. 


You need large marshmallows, chocolate chips for melting, 
and candy sprinkles. 


Dip the marshmallows in the melted chocolate, 
using a toothpick....


And let rest on a waxed paper lined pan for about 3-4 minutes. 


Then roll it in candy sprinkles or crushed candy-canes. 


For serving, remove the toothpick, 
 cut a pretty straw in half and insert in center. 


Such a cute idea for hot chocolate! 


Here's one last quick and easy treat .....
Vanilla ice-cream 'snowballs'. 


You simply use a small ice-cream scoop to form
a ball and roll it in shredded, sweetened coconut. 

These will keep covered in the freezer on a bed of coconut. 


I plan on serving these alongside gingerbread cake :)


It's been cold and we have fresh snow in the foothills now. 

The winter solstice is upon us and as we gather 
to celebrate this special day, 
remember the poor, the lonely, and the innocent 
animals left out in the cold. 

I wish you all my deepest, heartfelt Christmas wishes 
wherever you are. 
You are in my thoughts and prayers on this holy day. 

xoxo


31 comments:

  1. I like them all! I've tried the bark before but not the marshmallows and I already have all the ingredients at home. I especially like using the pretty straws, that is a great idea. Happy Holidays, my friend!
    Amalia
    xo

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  2. So many great ideas here, Karen. I love to make packages for my friends. I do white chocolate covered pretzels, and was thinking the bark would be overkill. Never thought of chocolate. Yum. On my list. The marshmallows for dipping in cocoa sound yummy-may try that too!

    Thanks, my friend!

    Jane

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  3. Tasty treats indeed just right for lots of Christmas fun! Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and all the very best for 2018. x

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  4. Hi Karen,wow thankyou for these lovely recipes,Merry Xmas my friend 💋

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  5. Lots of delicious treats. Have a lovely day with your family. B x

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  6. What a delightful post!Yum Yum!!!Merry Christmas,Karen!God bless all of your family.Hugs,Maristella.

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  7. It's so nice to taste excellent sweets in a warm room at Christmas.

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  8. Hello, your treats all look delicious. The candy bark sounds yummy and easy! Thanks for all the ideas, my hubby would be in candy heaven. Thanks always for your visits and comments this past year. Have a happy day and weekend ahead. Merry Christmas to you and your family.

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  9. the bark looks amazing,, we make that too!!! The marshmallows look so good and I will try making those, I know our family will love them!! The icecream looks so pretty for Christmas,, looks like snow! Thanks so much for sharing this today, Merry Christmas!

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  10. Wow! All these meals look so delicious! I'm also preparing for Christmas, we're going to make tuna salad and some cookies - like every time :) My mom is always making the most of meals and I think they are the best :)
    But maybe next year we'll be able to make Christmas in our home :) I would love to organize it at least once in my home. We're still renting a flat and we'll probably rent something for next few years. We're thinking about moving to bigger place, but we're going to look for something after New Year comes. It'll be hard for me to change flat, because I feel really good where I am now. I just got used to this place.

    I wish you happy Christmas and wonderful family time and of course happy New Year :)

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  11. I just love making and eating Bark! I have a Pinterest board dedicated to it. The marshmallow treat is so unique, as is the coconut vanilla ice cream. Yes, I can say Yum Yum!!

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  12. Merry Christmas to you as well my friend.
    Love and Hugs, Sharm

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  13. Such wonderful ideas. Love the look of the bark I intend to make some over the weekend. Wishing you and yours a wonderful Christmas and best wishes for the new year.

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  14. Thank you for sharing those lovely treat ideas. I love the idea of making some chocolate bark tomorrow as I think we have everything in to make it. I hope your Christmas is wonderful and everything you want it to be xx

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  15. Karen, your chocolate bark looks so tempting! And I see Santa is checking his list....

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  16. All your treat ideas sound so good, great idea for extras with hot cocoa too!
    So neat that there is snow for Christmas, we still haven't seen any snow yet but we may get at least a dusting this weekend, we are crossing our fingers :)
    Hope you enjoy a lovely Christmas with your family!

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  17. Dear Karen, my sweet friend,
    this all looks so delicious and wonderful!
    I wish you and all your loved ones a wonderful, delightful, joyful and blessed Christmas!
    Sending much Love and hugs, Claudia xoxo

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  18. ♥ What a gorgeous post, Karen! ♥ Merry Christmas! ♥

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  19. Tasty treats, just right for Christmas.
    My good wishes to you and your family - have a wonderful Christmas-time.

    All the best Jan

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  20. Beautiful post and thanks for the great recipes. Wishing you and yours a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year. I'm so glad God came to earth to be with us.

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  21. Wonderful treats, Karen! I like the marshmallow and chocolate one, and just might make that for my family. They will all be coming in tomorrow. The white chocolate and coconut bark looks really good too. That tree tin is so unique and pretty, love that. Well, you are all ready preparing goodies for your family. Have a Merry Merry Christmas, Karen. I'm looking forward to seeing your charming posts in the new year. They truly make me smile every time. : )

    ~Sheri

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  22. Oh my! I think I just gained five lbs!!

    All the best for a wonderful holiday!

    xxx

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  23. Recantos lindos e deliciosos. Tudo preparado para a festa natalícia. Feliz Natal.

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  24. Everyone will be enjoying your sweet treats in your home this Christmas! Thank you for sharing. Sending greetings to you dear blog friend. May you and your family have a very blessed Christmas.

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  25. Reading your post gave me a sweet craving....I did find 1 chocolate carmel and ate it while finishing your post. All the recipes sound delicious but the Vanilla Coconut Snowballs just spoke to me. Thanks for sharing all the recipes...No snow here but should be coming soon. Merry Christmas to you and your familly!

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  26. Lovely Christmas post. I think I'm coming to your house for some of those goodies! I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas.

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  27. It all looks delicious. - Merry Christmas. Looking forward to blogging with you in 2018.

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  28. Dear Karen,

    Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you dear friend and sorry it has taken me so long to come over and visit.
    Thanks for sharing all the treats - dear daughter made the marshmallows with chocolate and candy cane dust and they were yummy.

    Best wishes for 2018
    much love and hugs
    Carolyn

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  29. Whau! You have worked very hard in the kitchen preparing all those delicious treats! They look awesome, I think I would like them all. Merry Christmas time!!! Hugs!

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  30. Dearest Karen,
    Those were indeed sweet treats for Christmas. A bit too sweet for any diabetes type 2 or type 1 for that matter.
    Finally I'm able to visit some blogs.
    Got so busy in catching up on laundry, cleaning the house and than driving to Jacksonville, FL for going to midnight Mass at Basilica Immaculate Conception, as we did last year. Staying at the Hyatt Regency Riverfront and walking the short distance through the balmy 70s weather. Felt so good.
    Wishing you and yours a Happy New Year and stay healthy.
    Hugs,
    Mariette

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Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are important to me and are very much appreciated. xx Karen

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